Procedure:    Cooperative Education
Department:      Cooperative Education
Contact:            Andrea Newton, (541) 463-5494            newtona@lanecc.edu

Cooperative Education (Co-op) offers professional technical and college transfer credit for practical work experience related to a student’s educational and career goals. Cooperative Education offers students the opportunity to apply theory to practice and is available in all career areas.  Students may receive credit for paid and non-paid placements. For paid placements, student compensation is at a rate of pay comparable to employees who do similar work.

Student Registration Process

1. Meet with faculty Cooperative Education coordinator specific to the student’s career area.
2. Establish credits and seminar time.
3. Complete student agreement form.
4. Register for class.

Earning Credit/Grade

Course credit may be earned for work experience if a job is related to either the student’s major or occupational goal. The student enrolled in co-op receives credit and a grade with credit assigned on the basis of one credit for 36 hours of work experience.  To earn co-op credit a student must be currently enrolled at Lane.  Co-op learning sites are facilitated by co-op coordinators in cooperation with students.  Certain programs require co-op credits to earn certificates or degrees. Unless prior approval is received from the Cooperative Education division chair, students must enroll for a minimum of three credits. Cooperative education credits may not be audited nor can co-op credit be given for prior learning.

Credit Ceilings

1.  Associate of Arts Degree, Associate of Science Degree and Associate of General Studies Degree - A maximum of 18 cooperative education credits may be applied. Additional cooperative education credits may be taken when the student can benefit from the training, but the credit will not count toward a degree.

2.  Associate of Applied Science Degree - The ceiling for cooperative education credits will be determined by each instructional department.

3.  One-Year Certificate Programs - The ceiling for cooperative education credits will be determined by each instructional department.

Administration of Cooperative Education

All cooperative education classes are administered by the Cooperative Education division. The practice established by the college places responsibility for all learning-related work experiences, practicums, field experiences, service learning and internships with the Cooperative Education division. The Cooperative Education division chair must approve changes, additions or deletions of all co-op classes; has the responsibility of making all co-op related changes to the catalog; and will notify departments of changes for the schedule.

To protect the interests of all parties engaged in learning-related work experience including students, employers and the college, the Cooperative Education Division is responsible for the oversight of all labor law issues including workers compensation.

Cooperative education classes are listed in the class schedule under the discipline of the cooperative education activity  (Co-op Ed: Flight Technology is listed under Flight Technology and Co-op Ed: International is listed under Foreign Language.)   Co-op course numbers include either 180 or 280.

Records

Records of students’ experiences and evaluations after completion of cooperative education will be maintained and kept accessible for historical reference in accordance with college policy. The Cooperative Education office provides student information to appropriate organizations in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Approved course outlines will be kept on file in the Cooperative Education office.